IMPORT LICENCES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 136, 6 December 1939, Page 12

IMPORT LICENCES

DELAY IN ISSUE

"COST COUNTRY MILLIONS"

INDUSTRY SUFFERS

Inexcusable delay in bringing down the schedules of import licences for the third period has cost the countrymillions of pounds, and in many cases the wheels of industry will cease turning altogether in the early months j of next year, stated the annual report! of the council of the New Zealand Manufacturers* Federation, presented to the federation's conference at Wellington today. t The report detailed the vast amount of work that had been entailed in the collection and assimilation of information about New Zealand industries once the regulations had begun to operate, and added that^ as a result of these early Conferences and discussions between various industries and the Government, the Government was for the first time made fully, aware, of the potentialities of the manufacturing industries of the Dominion. The import control regulations had j had no real restrictive effect in the first period, and it was not until the second half of the year that their effect was felt in a restriction of im-, ports and in increased demand for locally-made goods. "Unfortunately," the report continued, "it was found necessary, owing to the heavy importations in the first j half of the year, to post-date very /considerably the sterling allocations for the second period, these being spread until June, 1940, only a small fraction being available this year. Considerable trouble and expense was caused to manufacturers and the longdelayed completion of the arrangements for export • credits in England did nothing to relieve the situation. "In an attempt to allocate the available exchange in the directions most greatly meriting it, the - Industries Committee^ found it necessary to scrutinise carefully all applications for materials. The extent of the delay inj volved in this makes it possible to assess the enormous amount of work falling upon the Customs and Industries and Commerce Departments. DELAY COSTS MILLIONS. "There was an inexcusable delay in bringing down the schedules for third- j period licences, a delay which has cost the country millions of pounds through inability to order in a period of rapidly-rising prices overseas, and | which has put many manufacturers months late in placing orders for materials, the non-arrival of which must, lin many cases,, stop the wheels of industry in the early months of next | year. ■' • ■■ ' ■ i\ "We .understand that it is hoped | that payment for- all thirdf period licence goods .will be I available by the end -of August, which will be a definite improvement upon the almost intolerable situation in which many manufacturers have found themselves through the refusal of overseas suppliers of materials to ship without immediate payment.. "We trust that in the third" period certain urgently required alterations will be made by. way of simplifying such matters as transfer of amounts between licences of the same category, and bulk granting of exchange to" cover all the licences held by any individual manufacturer.

"In this regard we feel that full details of \all arrangements for dealing with exchange should be published in similar detail for the information of trading banks and manufacturers. Had this been done from the time, we first requested, it, a great deal of ii> convenience would have been avoided."